Static eliminator and ink drier for printing presses



- v W 38 v 2 7 7 35 40 Jan. 30, 19340 I I A. a. E. NORDQIUIST 11,944,946

STATIC ELIMINA'I'OR AND INK DRIER FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed Aug. 11.1931 -2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR FTG. l. i a -5W ATTORNEY Jan. 30, 1934.A. GQE. NdRDQUlST 1,

' STAT-I0 ELIMINATOR AND INK DRIER FOR I RINTING PRESSES Filed Aug. 11.1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR aa fkzww Patented-Jan. so, 1934 STATICELIMNATOR AND INK DRIER FOB PRINTING PRESSES Anton G. E. Nordquist,Denver, Colo. i Application August 11, 1931. Serial No. 556,396

12 Claims.

My inventionrelates to printing presses and more especially to a devicefor the elimination of static electricity from the sheets of paper asthey are being run through-the press and for the quicker drying of theink printed upon said sheets. In printing presses, especially in themodern high speed presses, much trouble is experienced from the papersbecoming charged with static electricity which makes it cling to thetraveling tape and other parts of the presswith which it may come intocontact.

To overcome this static action a gas flame has been used, which flame isbelow or above and contacts the printed sheet of paper. To prevent thepaper from being burned when the press stops the gasis ordinarily fed tothe burner through an automatic controller driven by chain, gear, orshaft from the press. The burner is provided with a pilot lightindependent of the controller. When the press stops the controllerautomatically shuts 011 the gas from the main burner; when the pressagain starts, the controller opens the valve to the main gas burner andthe gas thus fed to the burner is ignited by the pilot light. Thuswhenever the press is running the main gas flame is provided, andwhenever the press stops the pilot light only continues to burn.

The heat from the gas flame, nevertheless, is quite localized and is notdistributed along the line of travel of the paper, and the margin ofsafety for the paper and for the moving tape is not very large. That is,since the flame is in contact with the moving paper it is easilyscorched or baked by a variation in flame, paper speed, the paperitself, the gas pressure, so that it tends to crack' when folded in thefolding devices used. p

In some methods now used a gas burner encased in a metal shield ismounted at the extreme front of the press; the paper slides over thisshield which often becomes so hot that the paper is baked or scorchedthat it cracks when folded. In some cases the gas flame is mounted totravel back and forth with the delivery means, which requires a largeflame to prevent its being blown out by the movement.

The object of this invention, therefore, is to provide in a printingpress, equipped with a gas flame static eliminator, means for thedistribution of the heat of thegasflame to make a greater margin'ofsafety for the paper and for the moving tape and to distribute the heatfrom the gasflame to the best advantage for drying the ink on theprinted paper, without baking or line 6-6 of Figure 2.

scorching the paper whereby it will be left in substantially its formerand natural condition.

A further object is to provide means for gas flame-heat distributionwhereby in bad cases of the presence of static additional gas flames maybe used without burning the paper or the moving tape.

A further object is to provide static elimination means for a printingpress whereby the heat from stationary flames may be. used anddistributed properly and smaller flames thereby employed than would berequired were the flames to move back and forth with the movement ofparts of the press.

A further object. is to provide such means 7 which may be easily mountedupon a press after its manufacture.

A further object is to provide such means I which are adjustable to givethe proper amount of heat distribution and dissipation to fitdiiferent'conditions that may be encountered.

I accomplish the above objects by providing a plurality of fans to bemounted upon and driven by the press, and which are adjustableboth inspeed and in direction of air blast, and by providing an adjustabledeflector to properly deflect the air blast from the fans upon the paperpassing through the press, together with means for mounting thedeflector upon the press.

I prefer to use two or more smaller flames 5 rather than one large flamesince when providing the same total amount of heat the maximumtemperature will be lower with the greater number of flames.

This heat, which would otherwise be wasted through lack of beingproperly directed, I use to dry the ink and to further eliminate staticby projecting it along with the travel of the paper. This is done bythefans and the deflector, the result being a reduction of the frictionbetween the moving paper and the contacting air, since the air is madeto move with the paper. All of this is fully described below and isillustrated in the drawings,in which;

Figural is a fragmentary sectional side view of a printing .pressprovided with my device.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 22 of Figure 1. v Figure 3 isan enlarged detail of my fan and. my adjustable fan mounting. I

Figure 4 is a view on the line 4-4 of Figure 3. Figure 5 is afragmentary sectionalview on the line 55 of Figure 3. I

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view onthe Figure 7 is a fragmentaryplan view of Figuse 1.

The deflector 1, which is shown as metal may be made of any other propermaterial, is provided with the mounting rods 2, clamped to the deflectorby the U-bolts 3, and nuts 4.

The rods 2 are mounted in any proper manner on the c-clamps 5, thec-clamps being clamped to the cross rod 6, or to any other convenientand proper part of the printing press 7 by the clamping screw 8. Anyother proper method of connection between the C-clamps 6 and thedeflector 1 may beused; or any other proper method of mounting thedeflector 1 upon the. press may be used, so long as the result is aproper and reliable mounting.

The free end of the deflector 1 is positioned and supported by aplurality of support rods 9, which are properly mounted upon c-clamps10,

.the C-clamps 10 being clamped upon the cross rod 11, or upon any otherconvenient and proper part of the press 7 by the clamping screw 12.

By adjustment of the screws 8 and 12 and the C-clamps 5 and 10 thedeflector 1 may be adjusted to and maintained at any desired angle forthe proper deflection of the air blast from the fans 13 downward uponand along the paper 14.

, Any other proper method and construction by which the deflector 1 maybe mounted, adjusted and maintained atthe proper or desired angle may beemployed so long as it is reliable and properly adjustable, whereby thedeflector may be set and maintained in the desired position. And anyother proper position upon the press '7 for the deflector furtherremoved from the fans and the flame may be selected if desired.

The pulley bracket 15 is clamped upon the cross rod 16 or upon any otherproper and con-- venient part of the press '7 by means of the cap I andscrews 18. This clamp mounting of the pulley bracket 15 permits thebracket to be set at any desired angle about the rod 16.

The bracket 15 carries the pulley shaft 19 upon which is properly securethe pulley 20 and the step pulley 21.

The step pulley 22 is split and is held clamped tightly inplace upon theshaft 24 of the press '7 by the screws 23. The shaft 24 is to be one orthe revolving shafts of the press 7.

The belt 25 is mounted upon the pulleys step 22 and 21 and permits thespeed of the shaft 19 with respect to that of the shaft 24 to beadjustable within quite wide limits, the belt length being changed ifnecessary when the position of the bracket 15 is changed upon the rod16.

The fan bracket 26 is mounted upon the bracket 15 and its position uponthe bracket 15 is adjusted as desired and locked by means of the thumbscrew 2'7. The pulley shaft 28 is properly journaled in the fan bracket26 and upon it is properly secured the pulley 29 and the bevel gear 30.

The belt 31 is carried by the pulleys-20 and 29.

The bevel gearhousing 32 properly journals the fan shaft33 and upon itis properly secured the fan 13 and the bevel gear 34.

The fan housing 32 is adjustably mounted upon the fan bracket 26 by thescrews 35, which pass through the slots '36 and screw into the bracket26. This adjustment permits the- Ian 13 adjustment of its angle inaddition to that pro 'vided about the rod 16.

The drive for the Ian 13 is taken from the shaft 24 through the steppulley 22, the belt 25 to the step pulley 21, through the shaft 19 tothe pulley 20, through the belt 31 to the pulley 29, throughthe shaft 28to the gear 30, through the gear 34 and the shaft 33 to the fan 13.

The speed of the fan with relation to the speed of the press maybe'adjusted by the step pulleys 22 and 21.

And the angle of the air blast from the fan 13 may be adjusted about therod 16 and locked by the screws 18; or about the bracket 15 and lockedby the thumb screw 27; or about the shaft 28 and locked by the screws35.

Other fans (not shown) may, if desired, be similarly mounted and drivento put a blast of air upon the paper and upon the moving air after ithas passed out from under the deflector. A fragment of the belt 25 forone of such fans is shown in the drawings.

Thus, by a combination of adjustments of the fans and of the deflectorit is possible to so control the air blast from the fans that thedesired results may be obtained to fit substantially any set ofconditions of paper, ink, speed, and gas flame.

It will be noted that the gas flame 37 is provided with the pilot feedline 38, and the main feed line 39, which is controlled by the automaticmain feed line shut ch 40. operated in step with the press 7 by thechain 41, or by any other positive drive construction.

Should static conditions be such that more than one gas flame isrequired, the flame, such as shown at 43 may be employed in addition tothe flame 37, and by similar pilot and main feed lines and with-.asimilar automatic main feed line control; or the pilot feed line 44 fromthe pilot feed line 38 may be employed, and the main feed line 42 fromthe line 39, and controlled by the controller 40, if desired.

In any case, the additional heat provided by the second flame for dryingthe ink or for elimination of static, or for both, may be taken care ofwithout damage to either the paper, or the moving tape, by properlyadjustment of the angles and positions of the deflector and the fans andby proper adjustment of the speed of the fans; all as explained above.

Under some conditions, and with large presses, it may be found advisableto use several more gas flames, either above or below the paper or bothabove and below the paper, and to provide several additional fan anddeflector installations. But such constructions are only amultiplication of what is herein shown and described and which any manversed in the art will understand and appreciate without furtherillustration or description here.

But, whatever details may be varied the main essentials will be the samein that my device provides additional control of both static electricityand the drying of the ink, and the proper and safe distribution of thegas flame heat.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire toprotect by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1.-In combination with a printing press, paper conveying means carriedby the press, fans mounted upon the press to blow air downward towardand in the direction of travel of the moving printed paper, step pulleyscarried by the fans and by the press, and belts driving the fan pulleysby the press pulleys, whereby the set ratio of fans and press may bevaried, press-controlled gas burners adjacent the moving printed paper,and a deflector carried by the press to deflect the hot air rising fromthe flames oi the gas burners as impelled by the fans along with theprinted paper.

2. In combination with a printing press, paper conveying means carriedby the press, press controlled gas flames adjacent the moving printedpaper, press driven fans to blow the hot-air from the flames along inthe direction of travel of the printed paper with a set relation betweenthe speed of the fans and the speed of the paper, and a deflector todirect the blown hot aid down upon the moving paper.

3. In combination with a printing press, paper conveying means carriedby the press, a gas burner having a pilot light and a press-controlledvalve controlled to open and close as the pressstarts and stopsrespectively, the burner located adjacent the moving printed paper, fansdriven by the press to blow air down upon and in the direction of travelof the printed paper in a set relation to the speed of travel of thepaper and a deflector to deflect the blown hot air down upon and causeit to move parallel to the'moving printed paper.

4. In combination with a printing press, paper conveying means carriedby the press, stationary press controlled gasburners adjacent the movingprintedpaper, fans carried by the press to blow air down upon and in thedirection of travel of the moving printed paper in an amount which isproportional to the speed-of travel of the paper, and a deflectorcarried by the press to deflect the blown hot air down upon and alongparallel with the moving printed paper.

5. In combination with a printing press, paper conveying means carriedby the press, stationary press controlled gas burner means adjacent themoving printed paper, fans carried by the press to blow air downupon'and in the direction of travel of the moving printed paper wherebythe air heated by the gas flames will be moved along with the printedpaper with a speed proportional to that of the paper, and a deflectorcarried in the path of the blown air to direct it downward upon andsubstantially parallel to the printed moving paper. I

' 7. In combination with a printing press, paper conveying means carriedby the press, heating means adjacent the moving printed paper, press,operated means to move the air heated by the said heating means alongwith the moving paper conveying means carried by the press, presscontrolled gas flames adjacent the moving printed at a speedproportional tothat of the paper to reduce the friction between thepaper, and the adjacent air and thereby prevent i'ormation of static,whereby the heated air will be moved at a speed having a definiterelationship to the speed oi the press and deflecting means to deflectsaid moving heated air downward toward the moving paper and to cause itto move substantially there with.

8. In combination with a printing press, paper conveying meanscarried bythe press, press controlled gas burner means adjacent themoving printedpaper, tans carried by the press having step pulley drives, step pulleyscarried by the press, and belts joining the press pulleys to drive thefan pulleys and to thereby cause the fans to blow air heated by saidburner means downward and in the direction of travel of the movingprinted paper and at a speed in set relationship to the speed 01 thepress, whereby the speed of the said air in relation to that of themoving paper may have a set ratio and which ratio may be changed.

9? In combination with a printing press, paper mg bumer located adjacentthe moving printed paper, fans driven by the press to blow air down uponand in the direction of travel of the printed paper in a set relation tothe speed of travel of the paper. i

ll. In combination with a printing press, paper conveying means carriedby the press, stationary press controlled gas burners adjacent themoving printed paper, fans carried by the press to blow air heated bysaid burners down upon and in the direction of travel of the movingprinted paper in an amount which is proportional to the speedoi travelof the paper, and with a velocity having a-set relationship to that ofthe paper.

12. In combination with a printing press, paper conveying means carriedby the press, stationary press controlled gas burner means adjacent themoving printed paper, fans carried by the press to blow .air heated bysaid burner down upon and in the direction 01 travel of the movingprinted paper whereby the air heated by the gas flames will be movedalong with the printed paper'with a speed in an amount proportional tothat of the P p r. ANT ON G. E. NORDQUIST.

